Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Cabrera to First

“I’m going to make a major announcement and I’m not going to answer questions about it,” Leyland said. “I’m going to make a statement and I’m going to leave it at that. We will now be moving Miguel Cabrera to first base and Carlos Guillen to third base. The reason is, we think at this particular time, it gives us a better team. So that’s what we’re doing.

I like moving Cabrera to first base, because he's a pretty big liability everywhere else, and given the Tiger's investment, he needs a permanent home. Guillen at third? Hard to say how that will go considering (a) he was ostensibly moved to first to save his brittle body; and (b) he hasn't played third since he was in Seattle, and even then he didn't play that much of it.

My preference would be to install Brandon Inge at third -- he was a wizard there last season, and with Renteria at short, you'd like to see good glove at the hot corner -- and move Guillen to DH. Leyland can't exactly do that, of course, because he has Gary Sheffield hanging around. But then again, Sheffield may not be hanging around much longer, so it's still a possibility.